The Virginia Occupational Therapy is a community of occupational therapy practitioners, fieldwork educators, academic faculty and scholars who collaborate to enhance the opportunities and qualities of fieldwork education for future practitioners. We strive to:

• Provide practitioners with educational opportunities to advance their knowledge and skills in fieldwork education.

• Build partnerships that expand and strengthen fieldwork opportunities.

• Respond with agility to evolving trends in practice, academic instruction, and fieldwork education.

The Council leaders have committed to collaborating to advance the resources for academic fieldwork and capstone coordinators (AFWCC), fieldwork educators (FWE) and capstone mentors (CM), and students. We have established a sustained capstone experience and have student engagement from Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, Duquesne University, Russel Sage College, and Washington University thus far. Our students have been involved in projects such as developing the website for the Council, conducting a thorough needs assessment of our fieldwork education and capstone community (AFWCCs, FWEs, students), developing learning modules, facilitating training for FEWs and CMs, and developing student learning programs and tool kits.

This capstone experience may address in-depth exposure in the following areas: education, administration, advocacy, program development, leadership, and research. We have found it valuable to shape the capstone project to align with the collaborative goals of the Council, the needs of the practice community, and the student’s learning needs and interests.

Contact us at VAOTFWC@gmail.com or plaverdu@odu.edu with any questions.